BATON ROUGE - Legislators debating stiffer fines for drivers caught breaking the law on the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge are now looking to have cameras placed along the roadway as well. 

The amendment to Senate Bill 435 calls for the state to install "camera safety devices" on I-10 along the bridge, which spans Iberville and St. Martin parishes.

According to the amendment, it would be up to the Louisiana Department of Transportation to determine who monitors the cameras and how often they should be used. 

Another amendment also changed the bill to double current traffic fines on the bridge, which would ratchet the cost for a first-time offense up from $175 to $350. A repeat offense could cost as much as $1,000 based on the proposal. 

Previously, the bill proposed a more drastic increase that would make fines five times more expensive.

The bridge is plagued by frequent crashes which often trap drivers on the interstate for hours due to its sparse exits. According to the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office, which polices roughly half the Basin Bridge, has written about 400 tickets on the bridge so far in 2022. Last year, the sheriff's office said it wrote 1,176 tickets on the bridge.